A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[aliciaplus3]

Ok so I am looking for help with knowing what to pick for breeding stock. I would like to be able for my daughter to take a few turkeys to fair and be competitive, this year there were very few heritage turkeys mostly just broad breasted varieties. I want to pick Good birds not just for feathers but I have limited experience and I am not sure what you would judge a turkey on.

 

[TurkeyTimes]

What varieties were you thinking alicia? Feather pattern wise will be different for each. But conformation is pretty critical. Cant paint the barn until you build the walls.

 

[memphis]

Get a copy of the APA & read the SOP for turkeys. I believe there are only 7 (may be wrong here) recongnised turkey varieties. I do know Blue Slate & Bourbon Red are acceptable. Ralphie & Holmes might be able to shed more light on what judges are looking for. This time of year there are all kinds of fairs going on. Might want to try & find a few in your area. Don't be shy about talking to judges about the finer points of the birds they use. Normally the judge goes down the aisles solo or with someone to record for them, but I've asked judges twice if I could tag along to audit. Both were gracious enough to let me! And boy was it a great learning experience.

 

[memphis]

As an AKC judge, I'm always willing to talk to someone trying to learn about a breed.

 

[aliciaplus3]

I am mostly interested in turkey..... I have 2 royal palms that I picked up from a local feed store as well as a spanish black. oh and the 2 that I hatched from a friends eggs that has a mix of standard bronze and chocolate, and the poults that just hatched come from the birds that I got in a trade deal but I am unsure of their exact colors... they are still too young for me to be sure of gender. I will take some pics and upload them soon. I do have a copy of the standard of perfection on order so I will be reading through it with a fine tooth comb as soon as I receive it.

 

[TurkeyTimes]

Haha I have an issue with Turkey showing. Especially with royal palms. We dont have the standard yet they pass in shows.

 

[memphis]

Polarberry....how is the hatch progressing?

Alicia....starting with the SOP is the way to go. Any chance you can get to any poultry shows this fall?

 

[aliciaplus3]

Polarberry....how is the hatch progressing?

Alicia....starting with the SOP is the way to go. Any chance you can get to any poultry shows this fall?

I live about 300 miles from the closest city that would actually have a show that would include anything other than broad breasted turkeys and our little local fair that was this past weekend they had the judging of the poultry closed to the public, they had the showmanship in the area and then judged the poultry in the cages but only allowed the kids in the area. I have never been to a real show just the local fair and it had been years since I attended that. My youngest daughter has taken an interest in the poultry and showing them so I want to help.

 

[PolarBerry]

Polarberry....how is the hatch progressing?

End of day 28 and have 4 that are hatched and drying. 1 pipped out the wrong end and I think died or is resting. I don’t see any other external pips... out of 19 :/

These eggs all had something in them, but candling at day 24 all I could see was dark mass vs clear/early failed development so some others very could well could have quit forming, or died pipping. Just wondering why I get 1 (and possibly more) from every hatch that try to hatch backwards. I wonder which hen it is and if possibly more of my “duds” are doing this. I’m not helping them out so they have to be strong enough to make it.

I’d love to get better quality breeding stock hens. My husband says eventually we can build some turkey breeding runs that I could rotate/replant cover crop so I could have more varieties and more foraging space/healthy pasture.

I used to breed pedigree gerbils and create new colors, so there’s crazy folk for all animal types! I’d love to work on some pencilling genes.

These ones now produce mostly ok but between my foamy incubator and the terrible-momma hen I’ll give them another season to shape up before they possibly get replaced. At least the hens, that is. My Tom seems to fertilize just about every egg though, isn’t rough with the hens and doesn’t attack people. He guards his ladies but lets me do whatever I need to.

Right now the breeding stock is getting a mix of flock raiser and startena gamebird so it’s around 25% protein plus oyster shell and wild grasshoppers and mealworms. So they shouldn’t be missing anything nutritionally. But they are hatchery-stock so my expectations aren’t the highest for production anyway.

Here’s to hoping I have a few late hatchers come morning!

 

[memphis]

Hope more pip Polarberry. Wish I had some advise or insight on hatching....but alas, my girls live in a convent.